I love, love, love my SRAM shifters! I went from Dura Ace to Rival and it's made a big difference in my ease of shifting. The reach was way too long with Shimano, even with their shims in. SRAM fits perfectly from every position. I don't really think the shifting is harder. The levers are in a better position and I've never had trouble shifting. Plus, I had one SRAM lever break and they replaced it, no questions asked. It wasn't even the current model. When my Ultegra shifter broke last year, that was it. I had to buy a new shifter.